Home / Mojave Preserve and Desert bikepacking trips / Spring 2011: Mojave National Preserve and area bicycle camping / Day 14: Cliff Canyon Peaks hike, New York Mountains, Mojave National Preserve 71
From down below (in Ivanpah Valley), I've looked up at this part of the New York Mountains and wondered what's up there. It's much easier to get to from where I'm camped near Pinto Valley, which is partly why I'm here. 9.3 hiking miles plus about 1700 feet of elevation gain.

- Sleep, I don't want it to end!
- Breakfast this morning is a hot meal, not my usual routine of granola, dried fruit and nuts
- Today's New York Mountains hike starts by walking up the road toward Howe Spring
- I pass a Scrub oak growing in a crevice in the rocks near Howe Spring
- From here, I get a northeast view toward the highest peaks of the New York Mountains
- Near some patches of Fleabane (I think) is a bright yellow flower that I haven't seen before
- I stop to take a closer look at the Munz' mariposa lily
- I arrive at a fork in the old roads in the New York Mountains foothills
- Wilderness markers delineate the end of the old road for cars and bicycles
- No human footprints are found in this sandy wash as I continue my hike up into the New York Mountains
- I pass a patch of bunch grasses in the New York Mountains foothills
- I continue walking up the wash and am amazed when I reach a small stream
- A thin cascade of water flows over the rocks in this unnamed New York Mountains stream
- Further up this unnamed spring, the water flow thins out a little, but I'm still surprised to discover this
- I decide to climb up out of the wash onto the ridge at my left for easier hiking
- I take a look behind me to see that I'm quite a few feet above Pinto Valley now
- I pass through a minimalist desert garden as I hike up the rocky New York Mountains foothills
- I'm just high enough now that I get perspective on most of my Butcher Knife Canyon hiking route two days ago
- I've been noticing a few ladybugs on my way up the rocky terrain
- I take an energy bar (mmm, chocolate) break behind a boulder pile; it's really windy up here at 6015 feet elevation
- I'm high enough now to see all the way across the west end of Ivanpah Valley
- I hike up the rather barren hill toward the overlook above the Cliff Canyon Spring area
- The top of the hill is really windswept, but a scattering of junipers seems to live just fine up here
- I reach Cliff Canyon Spring Peak #1 and take in the views from just under 6500 feet
- I ramble along the ridge above Cliff Canyon Spring a bit, and send a few text messages to let folks that all is well
- There's so much wind that I've pretty much given up trying to wear my hat; it keeps blowing off my head
- OK, it's time to come out from behind this big old barberry bush and walk up there to Cliff Canyon Spring Peak #2
- I come across another another one of those old rough-hewn wood fences that I always like
- The old range fence crosses the view back down toward my Pinto Valley campsite
- I keep looking back behind me at the saddle that leads down to Cliff Canyon Spring
- Just a little further until I reach the top...
- Up on Cliff Canyon Spring Peak #2 at about 6550 feet elevation is a claim marker and lots of low-growing cacti
- From Cliff Canyon Spring Peak #2 at 6550 feet, I can make out Brant Road along the train tracks below, despite the visiting smog
- From here, I could continue downhill a few hundred feet and then up over to that next ridge in the New York Mountains
- Up on Cliff Canyon Spring Peak #2 are a lot of ankle-high cacti
- These burned tree skeletons near Cliff Canyon Spring Peak #2 don't care much about the strong winds up here!
- Looking back toward my Pinto Valley campsite, I see a whole hillside that escaped the 2005 brush fires
- It's a clear sunny day above the smog layer that's blowing across the Ivanpah Valley below
- I keep looking across upper Fourth of July Canyon at the New York Mountains peaks
- This pinon pine tree appears to have burned a bit during the 2005 brush fires, but not enough for it to die
- Several Claret-cup cacti up here on the Cliff Canyon Spring Peaks are blooming
- I decide to follow the old range fence for a while as I start my way back down to Pinto Valley
- I pass by a few junipers and see that I'm descending into an unusually green-looking little upland valley
- At the bottom of the valley, an uninterrupted patch of grey-green bunch grasses grows
- On the edge of the now-dry wet area are lots of tiny yellow flowers
- A few larger flowers also grow in this valley, which I think are Desert dandelions (Malacothrix californica)
- After crossing the little valley, I take a look back up toward the Cliff Canyon Spring Peaks to look at its banded appearance
- Some yellow Groundsel flowers also decorate the saddle I'm following back down to Pinto Valley
- Well, I've just passed through some yellow; now it's time for some purple
- I'm not sure what these purple flowers are
- It's interesting to find so many of these purple flowers on just this one hillside in the New York Mountains
- I'm tempted to climb down into the sandy wash as I get closer to Pinto Valley
- As I hike downhill toward home, I see that some of the smog haze has blown into Pinto Valley as well
- I'm officially at the bottom of the New York Mountains foothills now
- One bush that I encounter occasionally in the Mojave Desert Mountains is the Barberry
- I'm back down in Pinto Valley earlier than expected, so I go for a walk up a barely visible old road on the way back to camp
- A few stretches of the old road here on the other side of Howe Spring are still well-defined
- I decide to go climb a few boulders over on the nearby rock pile
- It's fun to hike over the rocks in this quiet corner of Pinto Valley
- Looking back at the New York Mountains foothills, I realize that today's hike was not too difficult, and worth the effort
- As I walk around the rocks near Howe Spring, I reflect on how I haven't seen another human for almost 4 days
- This pile of rocks reminds me of a rabbit viewed in side profile, with its head facing toward the right
- Front-on, these rocks look like a twisted, drunken face
- Nearby is another interesting rock outcrop
- This part of Howe Spring Road follows a sandy, eroded wash
- I pass yet another sculptural pile of rocks in Pinto Valley on the way back to my tent
- As I get closer to my tent, I notice my tire tracks and footprints from the past few days here in Pinto Valley
- Arriving back at my tent, I take note of the patch of pink Desert primroses near the fire ring
- I'm going to boil water for supper on this side of the tent, to shelter my gas flame from the wind
- One last sunset at Pinto Valley
- Cliff Canyon Peaks hike, Mojave National Preserve, hiking route